AUTHOR'S NOTES: After that really long chapter last time, something a bit shorter, and a bridge chapter to the next story arc.

Getting Ruby Flight separated from Norn Flight (or at least most of Norn) may seem a little contrived, for which I apologize. The part about the headwinds/tailwinds is accurate (I think); a similar situation hit the five bomb groups going to Ploesti in 1943, causing the formation to get badly separated over the Bulgarian mountains. For those of you who are from Wisconsin or know the area, this chapter confirms what you've probably figured out: JRB Beacon was the real-life Volk Field in central Wisconsin, north of the Dells.

Almaty International Airport Hotel

Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

25 July 2001

"He fucking lied to us!" Yang shouted.

"Quiet!" Qrow snapped. He pointed with his flask to JINN, who was answering Oscar's question.

"You are Ensign Oscar Pine of the United States Navy," JINN said. Before Oscar could yell that she was stating the obvious—if a hologram had a gender—she continued. "Captain Oscar Ozpin programmed me to tell you that you are his son, as a result of a relationship with Veronica Pine of Pilger, Nebraska."

"I know that!" Oscar exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Captain Ozpin and Veronica Pine met at Beacon in 1977, not long after his return from Norway. She was serving as a civilian Department of Defense employee at Joint Base Beacon—though it was known as Naval Air Station Beacon-Volk at the time. They began a relationship, but Captain Ozpin ended the relationship two months before you were born, in 1978. He provided for your upbringing and arranged for your training slot at Pensacola when you made the decision to become a naval aviator."

Oscar came off the bed, fists raised. Ruby realized he was going to smash the console and was able to grab him before he could, barely stopping the enraged ensign. "You mean that was him?" Oscar shouted. "I didn't earn that on my own? It was arranged?"

Blake reached out a hand. "Oscar, Ozpin may have arranged for you to get to flight training, but there's no way he arranged for you to pass! You did all that on your own!"

"How can we know? He arranged everything else!"

Blake shook her head. "Oscar, he wasn't with you when you soloed the first time, was he? Or when you carqualled?" The Air Force pilots in the room looked at her. "Carried qualified," she explained. "That was all on you, Oscar."

Oscar calmed down a little. "My whole life is a lie," he said quietly.

If a hologram could look sad, JINN did, though Ruby supposed that she could've been programmed to look like that. "Captain Ozpin instructed me to tell you that he loved your mother very much, and left her because he knew he could not be there for either of you, due to the war. Moreover, he was also afraid you would become a target for Salem if they married. Salem's jealousy and insanity over losing her own child would have caused her to stop at nothing to kill you both." JINN's expression returned to her usual smile. "Are there any other queries at this time?"

"Yeah, just a few," Yang snarled. "Who is Rissa Arashikaze?"

JINN was silent for a moment. "I do not have that information," she replied, looking apologetic.

"It's been erased?"

"No, Captain Xiao Long. It was never placed in my databanks to begin with."

"Fine. It's not a big deal anyway." Yang angrily folded her arms across her breasts. "Last one, JINN. What was Ozpin's plan for defeating Salem?"

Another hesitation. "He never had one. At least, not one he shared with me." The smile came back once more. "Are there any other queries at this time?"

"No, JINN. Thank you," Weiss said. Oscar was seething and Yang looked ready to murder someone. JINN bowed, pressing her hands together, then derezzed. The console shut itself off.

"How much did you know?" Yang demanded of Qrow.

Qrow gave her a dirty look. "Watch your tone, Yang. I'm still your uncle, and your superior officer." He took a drink from the flask. "I knew about the part in Norway; I was there. I didn't know about Cuba. I suspected, most of us did, that he was involved somehow, but not like that."

Yang was shaking her head. "I just can't wrap my mind around this. I thought Ozpin was a good old stick. Instead he's the biggest damn mass murderer in history."

"That's a bit harsh, Yang," Weiss told her. "He didn't know that the Russian battery commander would launch. That was insane."

"What was insane was giving the invasion plans to Salem!" Yang growled. "God, what was he thinking?"

"The things we do for love," Blake said quietly.

"Yeah? And millions of people got turned into grease spots! Those people are dead, Blake!"

Blake jumped to her feet, her ears flattening against her head. "Yang, that's enough! You've never been in love! You don't know what you'll do to keep that person by your side!" She turned red and looked away. "You don't know," she repeated in a lower voice.

Yang stared at her, then at Qrow. "What are we going to do about this?"

Qrow slowly got to his feet. "What am I supposed to do, Yang? Punch Oscar? It's not his fault."

"Wasn't saying it was. He got fucked more than any of us."

"I'm pissed too, Yang. But all those millions of people are still dead. Ozpin's dead. What difference does it make now?" He took another drink, put the flask in a pocket, and headed for the door. "I'm going to make sure Maria's not passed out in the bar, and then I'm going to bed. You should do the same." He pointed at them. "And don't tell anyone about what we learned tonight. We better pray that Salem really can't track JINN or Arashikaze doesn't find out, otherwise we're going to be shoveling shit at Leavenworth for the rest of our lives. If we're lucky—remember, Arashikaze's had people killed for less. So zip it." He left, slamming the door behind him.

Yang tapped her foot angrily, clearly wanting to punch something. "Why are you so upset?" Weiss wanted to know.

"Because Ozpin and Arashikaze never told us any of it. Hell, he never even told Uncle Qrow or Mom, probably. We've been bleeding for a guy who started the worst war in human history, and for what?" She held up her arm. "I lost my arm for this? This is bullshit."

"We never asked," Blake replied. "And we've bled for the world, Yang. Otherwise Salem would've killed a lot more by now."

"Yeah? Well, next time we're back home in Patch, Blake, I'll show you my mom's grave. Seems to me that Salem's doing a pretty damn good job at killing."

"Yang," Ruby said, quietly but firmly. "C'mon. Let's not do this."

"You're thinking with your heart rather than your head," Blake put in, which was a mistake. Yang swung around on her, the artificial fingers involuntarily curling into a fist. Her other fingers started to shake. She slowly breathed out, then headed for the door as well. "Fucking bullshit," she snapped, and left.

Blake sighed. "Great. We're back to square one, now. I thought she'd forgiven me."

Ruby scooted over and put a hand on the Faunus' shoulder. "It's okay. Yang's always been like that. She blows her top and yells and screams, but she's okay by the next morning. She doesn't hate you, Blake."

"I guess." Blake got up. "I suppose I should get to sleep."

"Me too," Weiss agreed. "Good night, all."

Ruby waved at them and got to her feet. Once they were alone, she looked down at Oscar. "I know you're not okay."

"I was a mistake, Ruby," Oscar said, his voice breaking. "An afterthought. Ozpin just left me and Mom."

"You heard what JINN said," Ruby told him. "Salem would've gone after you."

"She's not omnipotent, Ruby. He could've kept it a secret. Instead, he did all that…because he felt guilty about what happened. That he knocked Mom up. As a rebound because his real lover went dark side on him!" Oscar slammed a fist into the nightstand. "Dammit!" Then he put his head in his hands. "Dammit…Yang's right. Ozpin was a bastard."

Ruby sat down again, and put an arm around him. "I think he loved your mom, Oscar. And you. But he was afraid the same thing would happen to you that happened to his kid with Salem. That's got to work on a guy—you spend 12 or 15 years fighting something, then find out you were fighting basically your fiancee? And that she hates your guts and wants to wipe out humanity because she's batshit? And that your daughter died the moment she came into the world?" Ruby blew out a breath. "That would mess anybody up."

Oscar slowly nodded. "I guess." He looked up at the JINN console, and gave her a wan smile. "You know, I may end up dead or in jail, but I'm glad I did that. I'm glad I know. Even if it hurts like hell."

Ruby smiled back. "Well, I don't think Arashikaze's as much as a bitch as she wants everyone to think. I don't think she's going to kill us all or something." She took his hands. "Still…lot to take in."

"Yeah."

"Do you….want me to stay here tonight? With you?" She blushed. "I mean, you know…for companionship or something..."

Oscar was tempted, but he wondered if Ruby was making the offer out of friendship or pity. Either way, that was not how he wanted to start a relationship with Ruby Rose. He also thought of his mother, wondering if she'd slept with Ozpin out of pity for a broken man. I was a mistake, he thought again. "No…thanks, Ruby. Not tonight. I think I just…need to think."

"Sure." Ruby leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "You're a good guy, Oscar." She stood and only slowly let go of his hand. "Keep the faith." Then she left, leaving Oscar alone with his thoughts.

Almaty International Airport

Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

26 July 2001

Ruby checked her watch. "Where the heck is he?" They were all standing around their aircraft, but the only one who wasn't present was Qrow.

"I can go check on him," Blake offered. She rubbed her arms. The flight suit wasn't much protection against a storm, and the leading edges of it were coming over the horizon, with a cold wind in front of it.

"I'll do it," Yang said. "Just hope he didn't get drunk and pass out and drown in his own vomit or something."

"God, Yang!" Ruby's eyes were wide.

Yang shrugged. "It could happen. You remember all the times he staggered into our house hammered?"

Ruby laughed. "I remember I thought he was a zombie one night and clocked him in the nuts with a whiffleball bat." She spread her arms at Blake's and Weiss' expression. "What? I was like six years old!"

Yang didn't even smile. "I'll go get him." She walked briskly towards the terminal.

Maria Calavera was leaning on the ladder. "Who pissed in her cornflakes this morning?"

"Aunt Flo is in town," Ruby said, before Maria could ask any other questions they weren't going to answer. She saw Pyrrha walking up to her, shivering so hard that her teeth were chattering. Greece didn't exactly have weather like this, and Pyrrha hadn't been at Beacon long enough to acclimate. "I can't believe it's going to snow around here. It's the end of July."

Maria shrugged. "I damn near died in a whiteout in Iceland…in August."

"Yes, well…" Pyrrha showed her watch to Ruby. "We need to take off soon. It's four hours to Tehran, and we're supposed to pick up the tanker near the Turkmenistan border. We're already thirty minutes behind schedule."

"I don't think any of us got much sleep last night."

"I slept freaking awesome!" Nora shouted, and put a proprietary arm around Ren, who actually turned red.

"I actually slept pretty well myself," Pyrrha added. "Thought I heard some yelling around midnight, but I dropped right back into sleep."

"Glad someone did." Ruby sighed. "Pyrrha, go ahead and take off. We'll catch up." She pulled a map out of her kneepad and opened it, trying to keep it from flying out of her hands. "We'll rendezvous about here—northwest of Samarkand." She took a red pencil out of a pocket and marked it. Pyrrha memorized the coordinates and nodded. "Okay." Pyrrha smiled. "See you in Tehran."

"Hopefully it's still there," Blake said, waving. Pyrrha waved back, and headed for her F-22. Ruby watched her go, then looked over to where Oscar was putting on his helmet. She waved, and he smiled and waved back. He seemed better this morning, anyway.

Norn Flight was taxiing out when Yang and Qrow finally returned. Qrow looked worse than usual, his eyes sunken pits, bent over more than the norm. Ruby met them. "Holy crap, Uncle! You look like hell."

"Yeah. Didn't sleep worth a shit." She smelled alcohol on his breath, but that wasn't unusual.

"Can you fly?"

Qrow chuckled. "Oh hell yeah. Let me get a shot of oxygen and I'm good to go. Hell, I've flown so drunk that I didn't even remember the mission." At Ruby's look, he held up a finger. "I'm not drunk, Ruby. Just tired."

"Okay, Uncle Qrow. We got to get going!" She had to yell as Pyrrha and Oscar took off, their afterburners shaking the airport. He threw her a thumbs-up and started walking towards the F-117. She glanced at Yang. "If I didn't know better," she told her sister, "I'd say he got really drunk last night. Even for him."

"Can you blame him? I was tempted to get into the booze too, Ruby."

Ruby put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Yang…are you okay?"

Yang smiled and kissed her sister's forehead. "Yeah. Let's just fly, okay? Get on up there and it'll put everything into perspective."

"You bet!" Ruby gave her a quick hug and half-skipped towards her F-16 as Ren and Nora took off. "Today's going to be a good day!"

Near Navoi, Kazakhstan

26 July 2001

"Fucking bullshit," Ruby groaned. "I don't believe this."

"It happens," Maria said from the backseat. "Winds are always weird over the mountains. There was this one time, over the Sierra Nevadas—"

"Oh, shut up," Ruby snapped. She liked Maria's stories, but she was feeling about as irritable as Yang. She glanced at her navigation display, then crosschecked it with her map.

"That's no way to talk to a defenseless old lady," Maria replied. Ruby didn't answer. She pulled up her visor and rubbed her eyes.

Ruby Flight wasn't lost, but what had been a half hour between takeoff times for Norn and Ruby Flights had turned into nearly two hours. It was a combination of the oncoming storm, which stretched from Afghanistan well into former Russia, updrafts over the mountains below, and just plain bad luck. Norn Flight had run into a tailwind, which put them well ahead of Ruby Flight, whereas Ruby had run into a headwind. To put the cherry on the bad luck sundae, they were in an area of spotty communications, where the United States and NATO's communication satellites did not cover. Ruby keyed her mike again. "Norn Lead, Ruby Lead, come in." She'd already sent that message four times, with no response. The fifth time was no different.

Ruby checked her flight. Weiss was bouncing up and down a little in the turbulence, but still holding station to her right and behind; Yang and Blake were to her left, right where they were supposed to be. Qrow was trailing behind them, barely in visual range, the trailer in case GRIMM jumped Ruby Flight. Next she checked her fuel. The headwind had changed that, as well. Ruby did some mental calculations. They might could still keep the tanker rendezvous, but it would be tight.

With another muttered curse, Ruby punched the mike button again. "Norn Lead, Ruby Lead, come in."

There was another few seconds of silence, then Oscar's voice sounded in her headphones. "Ruby Lead, Norn Two, reading you five-by."

"Oh, thank God," Ruby said, then replied to Oscar. "Norn Two, what's your location?" Oscar read off the coordinates; Ruby checked her navigational display again. He was about a hundred miles ahead of them on their present course. "Norn Two, Ruby Lead. Estimate three-zero minutes to you, best speed. Where's Norn Lead?"

"Ruby Lead, Norn Lead, Three and Four are base plus forty ahead of me; I'm relaying." Ruby understood; the agreed on base number for the day was ten, so there were 150 miles between the two flights. Because of the distance and conditions, Pyrrha and Ruby couldn't talk to each other, so Oscar was acting as a communications relay, orbiting between the two flights. It was risky—being alone anywhere was, and GRIMM coming into Kazakh space was far from unusual—but necessary. Had there been an AWACS, its far more powerful radios would easily be able to coordinate, but there was no AWACS closer than Tehran, if then.

"Roger, Norn Two. Continue relay where you are; we'll catch up and you join on us."

"Roger that. Norn Two will relay; out."

Ruby put her map back in its kneepad. "Ruby Flight from Lead. What's your state?" Weiss, Blake, Yang and Qrow all read their fuel states back to her. They were still in decent if not great shape. As long as nothing else went wrong, they'd make it to the tanker with a little to spare.

Northwest of Mary, Turkmenistan

26 July 2001

"It sure would be nice if something went right today!" Ruby shouted. She didn't have to hold the sidestick of the F-16 with both hands, but it was a wonder. They were bouncing around, and Ruby could only hope she wasn't about to bounce right into Weiss. A quick glance: she could just make out the Typhoon's navigation lights through the murk. Ruby made sure her lights were on bright and steady; if she kept them blinking, it might disorient Weiss in the thick clouds.

They'd caught up to Oscar's orbiting F-18 near the Turkmenistan-Kazkahstan border; it had been easy to pick out the Hornet against a squall line right in front of him. They'd climbed to get above it, only to realize that the clouds extended nearly to seventy thousand feet. There was no choice but to penetrate the storm.

Now they were fighting it. It wasn't as bad as a thunderstorm, but the blizzard's winds were nearly as powerful, and sleet rattled against the aircraft like pistol shots. Ruby watched her instruments: looking outside was asking to get vertigo, which was a good way to die.

"Maria, think you can call the tanker?" Ruby didn't want to be distracted.

"Sure." Maria was glad of the distraction. "Ruby Lead Bravo to Green Anchor, do you read?"

The voice that came back was staticky and tinny, but audible. "Ruby Lead Bravo, Green Anchor. I read you strength three. No joy on radar."

"Green Anchor, Ruby Flight is at bearing zero-eight zero, one hundred miles. Visibility nil." Maria glanced down and gave the tanker how much fuel they had left. "We're not going to make it," she murmured without keying the radio.

"We're going to have to divert," Ruby said. "Green Anchor, Ruby Lead Alpha. We're not going to get to you. What's the weather like where you are?"

"Ruby Lead Alpha, weather is Delta Sierra." Ruby translated that in her head: dog shit. "We can tank, but it's iffy."

"Green Anchor, Norn Flight's state?"

"Ruby Lead Alpha, Norn Flight is Bravo Zulu." Ruby smiled at that; at least Pyrrha, Ren and Nora had gotten to refuel.

She made her decision. "Green Anchor, Ruby Flight is divert to…" She took a quick look at her kneepad. "Divert to Darvaza. Repeat, Ruby is diverting to Darvaza. Is Darvaza open?"

"Ruby Lead Alpha, unknown on Darvaza, but it was in use two weeks ago." The tanker navigator gave them bearings and distance. It was fifty miles; they could make it. "Will try to contact Darvaza."

"Ruby, roger. Turning now. Break. Ruby Flight, come starboard to bearing one-zero-five, execute." She began a slow turn to the right, and asked Maria to watch Weiss. The turn was made with no trouble. "Green Anchor, on heading. See you later."

"Roger that, Ruby. Good luck." The tanker signed off and it was quiet again except for the popping of the sleet.

Ruby Flight flew on for another ten minutes in silence, then the sleet stopped. Two minutes later, the clouds parted like a curtain to reveal open and blue sky. Below them was tan desert spotted with drifts of white snow; in the distance, there was a fair-sized lake. Just beyond the lake was another squall line, another storm following the first, looking just as nasty as its predecessor. Ruby curved to the right a little more, then saw a road meandering north—it was more of a track in the desert than an actual road, but it was a good reference. All she really had to do now was follow the road. "Darvaza Tower, Ruby Lead. How do you read?" There was no answer, but her navigation system picked up the airfield's TACAN system. Ruby repeated the message, but there was no answer. "I don't like this," Ruby said aloud. She looked at her map again. They might could make Ashgabat, though it would mean going back into the storm. "Ruby Flight, say state." Yang and Blake returned that they had enough fuel.

"Norn Two, bingo plus one," Oscar said.

"Crow 13, bingo minus two," Qrow replied.

"That does it," Ruby sighed. Qrow did not have enough fuel to make it to Ashgabat; Oscar might not, if they ran into another headwind from the storm. It was Dervaza or someone was walking to Tehran. "Ruby Flight from Lead. No answer from Darvaza, but we got to get down. Crow 13, take the lead. Break. Darvaza Tower, Ruby Flight, do you read?"

The F-117 slid under the F-16 as Ruby kept up the radio calls, in vain. Now they picked up the field's localizer; its instrument landing system was working, though in the clear air, it would not be needed. Ruby climbed a little and spotted the runway: if it was snowcovered, they were going to have to think of something else. It was clear. "Crow 13, go ahead and land. I don't know what's going on."

"Ruby, Yang. Let me make a pass over the base. Just in case someone down there isn't friendly."

"Roger." Ruby was not crazy about her sister dragging for flak, but it was a good idea. Now she knew how Yang felt when she'd served as bait for Roman Torchwick at Mountain Glenn.

The F-23 accelerated to near supersonic speed and flew over Darvaza, first at medium altitude, and then at lower altitude. Finally, Yang just buzzed the tower. There was no response, but there was no ground fire, either. "Ruby, Yang. No joy. Not a thing."

"Crow 13, any chance you can make Ashgabat?"

"Negative."

"Shit," Ruby commented. "I sure fucked this up." She hit the mike button. "Straight in approach, Crow 13. I'll stay with you."

Ruby followed the F-117 all the way to the runway. Qrow made a smooth landing, his dragchute billowing behind the Nighthawk to slow the aircraft down. The maps said that the runway was long enough, but it was nice to have visual confirmation. After he pulled off onto the tarmac, Oscar landed next. Although she had less fuel than Weiss, Yang or Blake, Ruby insisted on being the last to land. She landed without a hiccup—the runway was in good condition—and taxied in next to Weiss. She opened the canopy, letting in moist air, and unstrapped her oxygen mask. "That feels good," she smiled, then stood up in the cockpit and saftied the ejection seat. Maria did the same. She wasn't sure quite how she was going to get down, but then Yang ran over with a ladder and set it against Maria's position. After Maria climbed down, Ruby carefully stretched from her seat to the ladder and followed her. "Where did you get the ladder?" she asked her sister.

"Over by the tower. Okay, this is weird," Yang said. "There's nobody here, but the runway's been cleared—and that storm can't have been gone more than half an hour."

Blake pointed up at the tower. Lights blinked atop it. "And the power's on."

"Maybe they're really shy?" Oscar ventured a joke. No one laughed.

Qrow looked at Ruby. "This reminds me of Kuroyuri."

Ruby nodded, with an involuntary swallow. There were no mountains for random Nuckalevee to hide behind, at least. The area around the airfield was rolling open desert. In the distance, she could see the town of Darvaza, about ten miles away. The airfield had the control tower, a pair of fair-sized hangars, a fuel tank farm, and what looked to be a few barracks and storage sheds. Everything was clean and uncluttered.

There just wasn't anyone in sight.

"Not good," Qrow continued. "I want someone in that tower."

"I got it," Ruby said. "Weiss, come with?"

Weiss shivered, which struck Ruby as being ironic. "I don't think I want to climb those stairs."

"I'll go," Blake volunteered.

They went over to the tower door. "It's locked," Ruby said, jiggling the doorknob.

Blake walked over, knelt, and clicked her tongue. "Weiss, can I borrow some hairpins?" The German girl reached up, undid her hair bun, and handed the pins to Blake. A minute later, the door clicked open. "Took a course in lockpicking from White Fang Academy," the Faunus grinned at them.

Ruby and Blake scampered up the stairs, rushing out of some sense of nameless dread. The tower was dark and silent, but mostly clean, though dusty in spots. Blake switched on the lights; the power was indeed on. There was a pair of high-powered binoculars, and Ruby peered through them, quartering the area around the base. "Nothing."

Blake felt her hackles rising. "Ruby, this is Twilight Zone stuff. We need to refuel and get the hell out of here, right now."

"No can do, my Faunus friend," Ruby sighed. She pointed to the west. "That storm's gonna be here in fifteen minutes. As soon as it's clear, we can head out, but we're gonna have to find somewhere to wait it out." Ruby did some fast calculations. "Dammit. If it stays steady…it'll take an hour or two to go over us. That puts us in Tehran in the dark." She made a sour expression. Tehran was notoriously hard to land at, because the approach was through the mountains. Even in the dark, with a working ILS, it would be difficult. This was assuming the ILS was working, which, from the briefing they had at Almaty from the locals, it often wasn't. She collapsed into a chair. "Blake, I hate saying this, swear to God…but we're going to have to stay here for the night."

"For the record, I want to state that that is a very bad idea."

"You got a better one?"

"No." Blake rubbed her ears, which were cramped due to being under her helmet for five hours. "Okay, okay…let's go give the good news to everyone else."

Ruby nodded and started to get up, then noticed something underneath the radar console. "Whoa. Is that what I think it is?" She got down on her knees and picked it up. "Blake, check it out!" She held up a bolt-action rifle. "It's a Moisin-Nagant Model 1891/30! Russian sniper rifle—it's even got a scope!" She aimed down the scope, careful to keep it pointed away from Blake. "Cool! Just like Vasili Zaitsev!"

"And Simo Hayha. Though I think his was a Finnish version." Ruby glanced sidelong at her. "What, Ruby? I read a lot."

Ruby opened the bolt. "Hmm. Loaded, too. Full clip, five rounds." She set the rifle down and rummaged through some drawers, finding two more clips. "Yang's right. This is weird."

Blake ran her fingers across the dark wooden stock. "It's in superb condition. Someone's been taking care of it." She looked up at Ruby. "I wonder if maybe some sniper hangs out here, decoying in anyone who lands. They could shoot them when they get out of the cockpit."

"So why not cap us?" Ruby made a shooting noise.

"Too many of us, maybe? Or they're used to potting light plane pilots, not fighters. I don't know." Blake's ears flicked back, and she drew her pistol. "Grab the rifle, Ruby. The others might be in trouble."

Ruby slung the rifle, stuffed the clips into her flight suit, and followed Blake out the door.

The others were all right, but none of them felt good about Darvaza. The hangars were empty, though oil and fuel stains showed they had been used, and the hangars were clean, well-maintained. The fuel system worked.

The wind began to pick up, sending cold tendrils across the field, making it feel more like late fall than the middle of summer. The pilots gathered around the door, guns drawn; all of them had Beretta M9s, the standard sidearm of the USAF, except for Qrow and Maria: he raised his Smith and Wesson .38, the older issue service revolver. Maria just leaned on her cane.

"On three," Qrow whispered. He and Blake would breach the door; they had the most experience. He counted down with his fingers, then kicked in the door. Both went back behind the corners to avoid any gunfire, but the two-story barracks was as deserted as the base.

The door opened up into a lounge of some kind, with books lining the walls. The upholstered chairs looked a little worn, and the coffee table was chipped, but there was a brick fireplace with logs stacked next to it. The room smelled musty but not unpleasant. Stairs led up to the second floor across the room.

"Let's get a fire going," Maria said, and hobbled over to the fireplace.

"I got it. Yang, Weiss, Blake: clear the upstairs," Qrow ordered. They nodded and set off, slowly.

Oscar ran his fingers over the books. "This is like a library or something." The titles were in Cyrillic, though there was a smattering of Farsi books as well. He noticed one lying on the carpet, next to the fireplace. So did Maria, who picked it up. There was no title, but when she opened it, her eyebrows went up. "Odd. It's in English."

"This place is seriously creeping me out—" Ruby began, only to be interrupted by a scream. "That's Weiss!" She unslung the rifle and pounded up the stairs, followed by Oscar and Qrow; Maria sat in the nearest chair and shrugged. If there were monsters, it wasn't like she would be able to outrun them anyway.

Ruby came around the stair landing to see Yang and Blake, pistols raised at high port, while Weiss leaned against the doorjamb, shuddering. "What's going on?"

"Take a look," Yang replied, and motioned into the room. Ruby glanced in and nearly dropped the rifle in shock.

Unlike the rest of the base, the room was not clean; in fact, it was dusty, and the window clouded with age. The carpet had seen better days, and the bed was mildewed. It was not the bed that had caused Weiss to scream, however: there were two desiccated bodies in it, tucked in with the covers under their chins. The bodies' skin was like leather, stretched over their skulls, their eyes closed but deeply sunken in, the mouths fallen open in silent screams.

Maria glanced up as the leading edge of the storm hit the base, the wind picking up and sleet beginning to patter on the concrete sidewalks outside. She squinted, but the sheets of sleet soon turned their aircraft into shadows. "Good thing we closed the canopies," she mused. At least they could get to them quickly; the tarmac was only fifty feet from the barracks, between the hangars.

She decided to make the best of it as she heard the younger pilots moving around upstairs; there were no more screams or gunfire, so Maria figured it must be safe enough. She opened the book she and Oscar had found. "A diary," she commented. "Wing Commander Herman Bartleby's."